Shreveport Times Features Ask Patty

Women flat out decide or, in some way, influence most of the car and
truck purchases in the United States - more than 80 percent, according
to some estimates.

But
talk to women candidly about their auto-buying experience, and you'll
find that many aren't thrilled with what happens in showrooms.

Women still report being asked, "When are you going to bring your
husband in? When are you going to bring your dad in?" and similar
disrespectful questions, said Fara Warner, author of the 2005 book
"Power of the Purse."

So what's a male-dominated industry like the car business to do?

Enter AskPatty.com, started by a couple of entrepreneurs who thought they could make some money straightening out the problem.

Data
from J.D. Power and Associates show that the situation isn't as bad as
some anecdotes suggest. Men pay a little more for their new vehicles
than women, and women are a little less satisfied than men with the
maintenance and repair process at dealerships.

Many dealerships
have already installed child-friendly areas, with toys and child
videos. And dealerships report doing their best to attract saleswomen
and to treat all customers with respect.

But AskPatty.com, a New
York-based Web site, aims to go a step further and help improve the
communication between female customers and auto sellers.

The
site educates women about all things automotive, with a staff of female
automotive experts who write articles and answer questions about
repair, maintenance and car buying.

AskPatty.com also provides a
unique service: certifying dealerships as female-friendly after they've
passed a course on how to communicate with women, which continues to
pose a challenge to many salesmen.

Forty-nine percent of the
nation's dealerships don't have even a saleswoman, according to a 2006
survey by the National Auto Dealers Association. The number of women
selling cars and trucks in showrooms declined last year - to about 8
percent of the 231,400 auto salespeople nationwide.

"I'm not a
screaming feminist waving my finger at auto dealers," said Jody DeVere,
president of AskPatty.com. "I'm a businessperson, and I saw an
opportunity."

To be certified, members of a dealership's sales
team must read "How to Get Rich Selling Cars and Trucks to Women," a
book about how to communicate with women, and take a training course.
Then they must pass a 134-question test, which takes about an hour to
complete.

"We're teaching them how to attract, sell and increase
loyalty with women," said DeVere, who also has two male partners in the
AskPatty.com enterprise.

AskPatty.com gets about 20,000 visitors
each month. About 50 dealerships have signed on for certification
services. Dealerships pay $225 per person for 12 months of training and
$795 a month for the dealership certification.

Steve Rajnert,
32, the Internet sales leader at Dorian Ford in Clinton Township,
Mich., took the initiative to get his dealership certified after
finding the Web site earlier this year.

"They've actually given
us a lot of information on selling to women. Women are doing a lot of
the purchasing on their own. ... Sometimes the women don't feel
comfortable. This trains us on how to communicate a lot better."

Rajnert
confesses that he has changed the way he sells to women and that it has
improved his personal relationships as a result. "I give them a lot
more attention than I would before."